Thursday, December 16, 2004

Looking for Minneapolis Yarn Shops -or- I Am A Goober

Many moons ago, but not so many that I didn't know I would be in Minneapolis to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday in December, I corresponded with another blogger in Minneapolis who offered to point me in the direction of appropriate shops while I was there. At the time, I didn't know what days I would be there, so I told her I would get back in touch when I had more details. Now, I don't remember who that was, and due to a "glitch" I had back in October, I think, I have lost the e-mail trail, and can't find the offer or my response to know who it was.

And so, I am hoping someone in the area reads this blog and can offer assistance. I will have free time on Monday morning, December 20th to drive around the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area in search of new yarn experiences. I am staying at a hotel in Bloomington and will be on my way to the airport, so I'd be looking for shops on the southern end, I suppose.

To recap, I need:
1. Yarn stores in the south-ish area of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area,
2. which are open on Mondays.

Anyone, anyone?

If not, I'll just have to go to the Mall of America and buy some spicy pickled garlic. What a chore.

3 comments:

Teri said...

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=yarn+shop+minneapolis

Barring that, you could always kill some time in Kansas City.

Tipper said...

I'm in Minneapolis! :) (If you need more detailed info than given below, please e-mail me at tipper@gmail.com and I'll give you better directions.)

In that part of town, there aren't very good yarn shops. The closest to you would be one of the better ones, Three Kittens Yarn Shoppe, which is at Hwy 13 and 35E. There are a few in southern Minneapolis, but I don't recommend them - they're either too small to be worth the trip or the staff sucks. And one, although a great store, I'm boycotting because they a) treated me like crap awhile ago, and b) they have awful business practices (i.e., calling a new competitor repeatedly and hanging up - hello! Caller ID, people! - and calling distributors to complain when the new yarn shop DARED have a lower retail price).

Your next best bets are in St. Paul. Borealis Yarns is at Hamline and Thomas, near the state fairgrounds, and is wonderful. The Yarnery is also great, and is on Grand Avenue in St. Paul (a ritzy shopping neighborhood).

If you'd like (and if I'm not working - right now I'm on the job hunt), I could take you around to these places, or act as navigator. It's a lot easier when you have someone around who knows just where to go! :)

Anonymous said...

YES!
Go to Borealis in Sta Paul. That is the best one, good selection and good prices and they're super friendly there. Another one I really like is called Needlework Unlimited but it's in Saint Louis Park. It's just east of France Ave on 44th ave.
Do NOT however go to Linden Hills Yarn. They are really snobby, super expensive, and in my experience very very rude.
Good luck!
Have fun!